Treating ‘Lazy Eye’ Using Screen Time, With Ran Yam

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NovaSight is tackling one of the biggest unmet needs in ophthalmology: pediatric amblyopia, otherwise known as “lazy eye.” It’s the leading cause of vision loss in children. And despite innovations in virtually every other eye condition, the most common amblyopia treatment has remained the eye patch.

NovaSight’s CureSight is a binocular treatment that lets kids do their favorite on-screen activities—movies, YouTube videos, homework—while the device’s eye-tracking technology and three-dimensional image processing algorithms go to work. NovaSight recently presented positive top-line data and expects to receive Food and Drug Administration clearance in Q3.

NovaSight’s CEO, Ran Yam, spoke with OIS Podcast host Rob Rothman, MD, about NovaSight and how it’s meeting unmet needs in children.

NovaSight emerged in 2016 after an engineer approached Ran with an idea for using a virtual reality headset to treat strabismus. They were introduced to Michael Belkin of Belkin Lasers, who encouraged the partners to focus on pediatric uses. They agreed. Ran then assumed the role of CEO, started fundraising, and guided the company through a successful Series A round.

NovaSight now has one product on the market—EyeSwift, a diagnostic device—and another on the way. Both use optical image sensors, a pair of ActiveSight glasses, and a cloud-based monitoring system. The company is currently raising $15 million to $20 million to fund development of the second generation of EyeSwift and to research CureSight for myopia prevention.

Listen to the podcast for an in-depth look at:

• Pivotal study results for CureSight as an amblyopia treatment device.
• How physicians use CureSight and EyeSwift, including how they can monitor activity between visits.
• What’s different about EyeSwift 2.0.
• How CureSight addresses myopia prevention.
• How an engineer with an idea connected with Yam and Belkin to launch a successful start-up.

Click “play” to listen.